League Notes: New Zealand Rugby League Investigates Drug Use During World Cup

The New Zealand Rugby League "is investigating whether players misused prescription drugs during the World Cup campaign." Under the microscope "is whether players combined prescription sleeping pills with energy drinks" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 12/29). ... A Delhi Court has directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India "to consider the age of players on the basis of birth certificates or adopt a scientific method to determine the age in the absence of genuine documentary proof" (PTI, 12/29). ... Rajasthan Cricket Association representative and Lalit Modi's lawyer Mehmood Abdi on Saturday said that "the BCCI will have to hear him out during the Board’s Working Committee meeting in Chennai" on how the banned former Indian Premier League commissioner was allowed to contest RCA elections (PTI, 12/28). ... The Int'l Cricket Council on Friday "furthered its process of improving the much-debated decision-review system by providing direct replays to a non-match umpire, a trial also experimented with earlier this year" (AAP, 12/29). ... Officials at the UAE Rugby Federation said that "they are considering a target system similar to that employed by South Africa, in regard to black players, in order to increase Emirati participation in the domestic game." The UAE "is represented exclusively by passport holders at international level in the sevens format." However, "there are virtually no Emiratis playing regular rugby at first-team level in the expatriate dominated domestic league" (THE NATIONAL, 12/25).